FABLES AND FOLKTALES CAN BE A USEFUL TEACHING MATERIALS.
Yesterday my son was
reading about ' The Tortoise and The Hare '. Suddenly something came across my mind.
As an English Language teacher in primary school , i think fables can be useful
teaching material. This is because a fable is a story that has meaning and it
gives a moral or lesson. It also involves human qualities with animals, plants
etc.
Children love folktales and fables.
With their simple characters and settings, as well as an enticing conflict
early in the story, folktales immediately grab a reader’s attention and, of course, everyone
loves when humor and cunning are used to outsmart an adversary.
Reading
world folktales and fables is not only a wonderful way to entertain and bond
with children, it is also an effective way to educate them. The stories in
classic folklore offer both social lessons as well as an opportunity to teach
about cultures and languages.
Folktales and fables provide an excellent way to
teach kids about the consequences of good and bad behavior, the importance of
cooperation, and the rewards of courage and ingenuity. In one of my favorite
stories, The Giant Turnip (an adaptation of the Russian
story The Enormous Turnip),
a class grows a huge turnip and works together to figure out how to pull it out
of the ground. The story helps young children grasp the benefits of community
and working together.
Folktales and fables also offer a great entry
point for teaching children about other cultures. For instance, the fable Dragon’s Tears is a wonderful starting point to explore
Chinese Culture. Ali Baba and
the Forty Thieves can be
used to begin teaching and learning about Arabic culture.
Bilingual editions of these
traditional stories allow the parent or teacher to expose children not only to
a different culture, but also to another language. I like to use Language
Lizard’s bilingual version of the Indian folktale Buri and the Marrow (in which Buri wears an Indian sari)
to expose my children to traditional Indian stories and foreign language
scripts. The audio CD even lets them hear the story in Bengali and other
foreign languages.
Folktales
and fables have survived the test of time for a reason. So pick up a story, sit
down with a child, and enjoy!
Here I would like to share The Tortoise and The hare. In this fable The hare believes that he’s faster than the
tortoise, and he’s right. In a flat out run, the hare will beat the tortoise
every time. But the hare makes a huge mistake, believing in his ability but
then not actually proving it.
Here
pupils will learn that in life they may
have great skill, one which everyone acknowledges, but they must still use that
skill in competition to actually win competition. Overconfidence that leads to
a lackadaisical attitude will often be punished by embarrassing failure.
